We have caught several episodes of the BIO Channel show I Survived. The
television show is done in interview format with the actual survivors
telling their stories. Each episode seems to contain three individual
stories. The three stories fall under three seperate categories:
surviving a severe industrial/motor vehicle/work related accident,
surviving the elements/act of nature/outdoors and surviving a violent
incident. The real life stories are compelling and harrowing. Anyone
with an interest in how humans function during times of severe stress
will find I Survived interesting. I have, but one problem with I
Suvived.

Our main interest in the show is the segment on violent crime survival.
The times I caught the show I found myself hanging on the words of the
speaker/crime victim survivor waiting for the explanation on how the
crime victim "turned the tables" on the mugger/shooter/rapist/home
invader. The problem is there never is a "turning of the tables". At
the end of the show the survivors offer their explanation on why they
survived. The crime victims we've seen interviewed survived because, in
our opinion, their attackers lost interest or focus on the victims. The
victims never committed to fighting. They never took their destiny into
their own hands. We understand that not everyone is capable and willing
to determine their own destiny in all situations. This is not a
criticism of any survivor. It is a criticism of I Survived's producers.

Why the producers?

Simple. There are a number of real life incidents where the odds were
against an individual or a family and not only did they survive a
violent incident, but they won. There was a clear cut victory by
individuals fighting back, taking charge and making sure the bad guys
would never commit an act of violence again. We're not blood thirsty,
but if blood must be spilled we prefer it's the blood of the bad guys.
We prefer the viewers leave each episode with the feeling that they can
take action to save their families or themselves if need be. We want
people to know it's possible to fight back even when the odds are
against them.

We can't help but be curious about why there is an aversion to showing
good guys and gals winning as opposed to merely "surviving". Surely
someone from BIO has the ability to track down a winning survivor. Are
the show's producers worried that viewers may suddenly realize they can
be self-reliant? Do the show's producers feel the episode is more
interesting when the victim's survive simply because their attacker
allowed them to? We don't have the answers to these questions, but not
wanting to complain without offering a solution we took the liberty of
composing a list of real events that the BIO people can use to make a
good television program even better. Or they can have a completely
separate show....I Survived....By Winning:

October/1996: A man who had been arrested 8 times in nine years for
various robbery and assault charges attempted to rob Courtney Beswick.
Beswick, a wrestler and judo practitioner, threw the mugger over his
shoulder and to the pavement where he subdued him with a "wrestling
hold". The mugger died on the scene with a "neck injury". Beswick is
legally blind since birth and formerly named the Most Valuable Wrestler
in the Eastern Atlantic Wrestling Division for Schools of the Blind.
Beswick had asked the man, several times, to leave him alone. (Source:
Philadelphia Daiy News)

July/1998: Musician Marc Maurizi returned home from a show in New York,
was shot by a convicted robber on the elevator in his building. Maurizi
fought with the mugger, disarmed him of his 9mm handgun and shot him,
ending the incident. Maurizi suffered a graze wound. The mugger is
taking a dirt nap. (Source: NY Daily News-7/20/98)

May/2002: New York City bus driver, Clinton Phillip, is stabbed, while
driving a bus, by a passenger who demanded that Phillip drive faster.
Phillip fought with his attacker, disarmed him and used the attacker's
weapon to stab the attacker. The offender was able to get off the bus
and make his way to the same hospital that was treating Phillip.
Phillip left the hospital after being treated. The attacker was
transferred to the morgue. (Source: Newsday May 6, 2002)

March/2006: Five home invaders, 2 armed with handguns and one with a
rifle, crashed the door of a Texas family. The homeowner walked in to
find the gunmen rounding up his wife, elderly parents and children. The
homeowner fought with the home invaders getting one of their guns and
shooting him. Upon seeing their fellow criminal DRT (Dead Right There)
the other four cowards ran off. (Source: Houston Chronicle 3/25/06)

September/2006: {Our personal favorite} 51 year old nurse, Susan
Kuhnhausen returns home and is suddenly attacked by a man with a hammer.
The man struck Kuhnhausen in the head and face. Kuhnhausen fought the
attacker who had an arrest record that includes conspiracy to commit
aggravated murder and convictions for robbery and burglary. Kuhnhausen
was able to get the hammer, strike the attacker and get him into a choke
hold, choking him to death. Kuhnhausen was taught basic self defense as
part of her nurse training. Turns out that the attacker was hired by
Susan's ex-husband to kill her. The husband gave the hitman the key so
he could enter and hide in the house. Mr. Kuhnhausen is sitting in jail
probably grateful that Susan cannot slip her arm around his neck.
(Source: FoxNews.com,9/16/06)

November/2006: A Ball Ground, Georgia woman was raped by a home
invader. When the rapist announced to the woman that he was going to
rape her six year old daughter the woman ran to her kitchen. A struggle
ensued in the kitchen where the rapist was able to get his hands on a
pot of boiling water and throw it on the woman. Thinking only of her
daughter the woman grabbed a knife and stabbed the rapist to death.
(Source: FoxNews.com)

December/2007: Upon hearing a knock on the door, looking through the
peep hole and seeing a woman, a West Valley City, Utah man opened his
door. The woman moved out of the way and two armed men barged in to the
home where the homeowner's wife and infant child were. The gunmen shot
and killed the family's Great Dane then duct taped the wife to a chair.
The gunmen forced the home owner to take them around the house. The
homeowner fought with the gunmen getting one gun and shooting them. One
gunman ran off the other never saw another New Year again. The dead
offender was charged with Attempted Murder in 1994, but plead guilty to
Aggravated Assault. (Source: Salt Lake Tribune, 12/31/07)

August/2008: A 52 year old, registered sex offender broke into an
Indianapolis, Indiana home, apparently, to rape the 17 year old girl who
lived there. The rapist wore only a mask and gloves, no clothing or
shoes. The rapist carried with him a rope, a gag, condoms and a knife.
The girl's father, 64 years old, fought with the sex offender and got
him into a choke hold, killing him. (Source: The IndyChannel.com,
8/28/08)

September/2008: Two gunmen smashed through the front door of a Blue
Mound, Texas home where Kelli and Keith Hoehn live. Kelli began
fighting with the men which enabled Keith to disarm the one with the
shotgun. Keith shot and killed the man and wounded the one with the
pistol. (Source: FoxNews.com, 9/8/08)

September/2008: A 44 year old man entered an unlocked back door of a
home in Fort Worth, Texas, armed with a hatchet, gun and a pipe wrapped
with tape. The attacker confronted Ron and Jill Huddleston, ages 50 and
47. The Huddleson's complied with the attacker's demands and gave him
cash and a coin collection. When he demanded more the Huddleston's, not
wanting any trouble, offered their cars. The attacker apparently didn't
want their cars because he began beating Ron with the pipe. The assault
left Ron with a broken arm and cuts to his face. Ron and Jill began
fighting with the home invader when he turned to assault Jill. Ron was
able to disarm the man while Jill grabbed a knife. Upon disarming the
bad guy Ron tried to shoot him, but discovered the attacker's gun was
unloaded. Jill was able to stab the attacker. The home invader was
removed from the home and died in police custody. (Source: Dallas
Morning News, 9/22/08)

November/2008: Brooklyn shop owner, Youssouf Drame, disarmed one of the
two armed thugs who entered his store and announced that they were
robbing him. There was a struggle over the cash register, one employee
was pistol whipped and Drame was shot in the stomach. After being shot,
Drame snatched a gun from one of the robbers and shot and killed both
men. The two lookouts outside the store ran off. (Source: NY Daily
News, 11/18/08)

LESSONS LEARNED:

The better your physical conditioning the harder you are to kill.

Mindset is everything in a life and death confrontation.

Pleading and reasoning with a sociopath is a waste of time. Decisive
action and overwhelming force wins the day.

Gender is not a factor in self protection capability. A motivated woman
can defend herself despite the fact that there are men and women who
believe the contrary.

It's possible to beat attackers who surprise you, injure you, are armed
and are more vicious than you once you commit yourself to winning, not
just surviving. These life and death fights are not sporting events.
The above listed dead perpetrators were depending on their victims not
putting up a fight. If they knew they were going to be in a real fight
the bad guys would have picked who they perceived as an easier target.
If these thugs were brave they would have real jobs and be productive
members of society.

You can fight effectively after being shot, beaten with a pipe or having
boiling water thrown at you. You can allow yourself to suffer the
affects of pain when the bad guy is no longer a threat.

The dead perps were either repeat offenders or would have been. Some
were charged with serious crimes previously yet they were back in
society to commit more crime. These bad guys would have kept committing
violent crimes if they had gotten away or went to jail.

Saving a loved one is extremely powerful motivation. If you cannot
muster the inner strength to save yourself think of a loved one and
fight as if you had to protect them. By winning you are protecting
them.

Husbands and wives who are on the same page when it comes to defending
themselves and their homes are very formidable. Family planning for
emergencies should include guidelines for a violent incident/home
invasion.

Fight sooner rather than later. Don't try to figure everything out
before going into action. The most chaotic time of violent incidents is
the beginning stages. It is also chaotic for the bad guys. Take
advantage of the chaos. Cause chaos. Operate in the chaos.

Convicted sex offenders are never rehabilitated.

The choke is a valuable defensive tactic and relatively easy to apply.

CONCLUSION

We purposely chose incidents where the bad guys had the upper hand by
being armed, having greater numbers or surprise on their side against
unarmed, unsuspecting, decent people. There are numerous incidents every
year where responsible, law abiding citizens who are armed stop criminal
acts just by being armed. We don't expect this fact to be widely
publicized and we especially don't expect a television production to
bring this fact out. Self-reliance goes against the agenda of many of
the powerful people in television land.

In our humble opinion the above listed incidents would make for more
interesting viewing and would offer a better lesson for those willing to
take it. The only reason we can see for these incidents and those like
them not to make it to a production such as I Survived is the winners of
these confrontations don't wish to comment or be involved. This would
be completely understandable.